Running for only a few more days, (so when around New York City make sure to still catch it!) 'The Keeper' is an inspirational and remarkably designed exhibition dedicated to the act of preserving objects, artworks, images and to the passions that inspire this undertaking — which makes it for us, as avid collectors and collection lovers, a must visit. The curation that's on display in the New York City-based New Museum forms a reflection on the impulse to save both the most precious and the apparently valueless, bringing together a variety of imaginary museums, personal collections, and unusual assemblages, revealing the devotion with which artists, collectors, scholars, and hoarders have created sanctuaries for endangered images and artifacts. In surveying varied techniques of display, the exhibition also reflects on the function and responsibility of museums within multiple economies of desire. The eye catcher of the exhibition is 'Partners (The Teddy Bear Project)' (2002), a vast display conceived by Ydessa Hendeles. Composed of over 3000 family-album photographs of people posing with teddy bears, and vitrines containing antique teddy bears, Hendeles’s project establishes the teddy bear as a metaphor for the consolatory power of artworks and images and underscores the symbiotic relationship that ties people to their objects of affection.

Subsequently, through a selection of studies and portraits that spans the twentieth century, the exhibition tells the stories of various individuals through the objects they chose to safeguard, exposing the diverse motivations that inspired them to endow both great and mundane things with exceptional significance. As responses to loss, chronicles of experience, subjective quests, and archives for the future, the unusual collections and personal museums that are presented range from staggeringly maximalist efforts to modest struggles charged with urgency. [ Continue reading ]

As shared by dezeen two days ago, we are very impressed by the second BMW Museum, which will be opening its doors very soon in Beijing, China. Beijing- and Frankfurt-based firm Crossboundaries’ design for the gallery space on the third and fourth flour of the BMW building brings forth the exclusiveness of the cars while it references the Chinese aesthetic heritage in an innovative but elegant way.

The museum exhibition starts on the third floor of the newly built building in the Chinese capital; entering through an grande, almost two floors high and bright area, which houses the reception zone, whose vertical surfaces are accentuated with horizontal lighting strips interpreting the motion of speed. Subsequently the visitor is being absorbed into a lower, more transitional lounge which was created as a cozy touch. The key feature in the design of the space are the hite, light and slightly transparent fabric banners are hung from the open ceiling on this floor. While the fabric’s verticality reduces the high ceiling to a more human scale, the vast amount of white textile surfaces indicates generority and the “Chinese red gate” as backdrop transmits an imperial feeling. The horizontal lighting strips continue into the main exhibition area and information walls, with integrated screens for multimedia presentations at the perimeter walls of the space. Projections can be also screened on to fabric banners in the middle of the space where seating areas are provided around the exhibition pieces, which adds up to a very impressive exhibition space, if you ask us.

Combining references to the old within a contemporary aesthetic, we can only hope for more interior design like this as this is what the future should look like... [ Continue reading ]

More than two years ago we wrote about a new Jungles in Paris story which took the reader on an insightful trip to the West African country of Senegal. As in most Sub-Saharan African countries football is the clear favorite sport there, but an indigenous sport that has existed for centuries is traditional wrestling named Laamb in Wolof. It is one of the sports in which the young men engage on the famous 'Plage de Fann' beach in Dakar, which was singled out in the beautiful story. Since ancient times Senegalese wrestlers competed before the king and queen in village squares. Singers, dancers, and storytellers embellished the match. Wrestlers wore amulets to ward off evil spirits and black magic from their opponents. Nowadays, the tradition remains strong. As in former times, griots praise the victors in song and dance.

The contemporary champions of the traditional wrestling sports are celebrities in Senegal, with fighters such as Yékini (Yakhya Diop), Tyson (Mohamed Ndao), and Bombardier (Serigne Ousmane Dia) the best known. Today we want to take another look at the beautiful sport, this time through the lens of French photographer Laurent Laporte who shot a series on one of his many travels named after the famous wrestler: 'Bombardier'. Young Senegalese boys, who meet each other on beaches like Plage de Fann, dreaming to become as big as 'the bomber' — caught remarkably by Laporte who made the series half duotone and half color. Finding remarkable frames which represent both the sport and the country in a unique and exciting way.  [ Continue reading ]

Recently we encountered the new series by Vienna-based photographer and director of photography Wolfgang Lehrner named 'Metro / Polis', for which the artists— following his series shot in Moscow named 'WELT / RAUM'— travelled to city of Athens. The remarkable new series is divided into six different chapters for each element of the city as observed through the camera, for which Lehrner created a dedicated online environment to portray his unique complete vision of the city that holds the cradle of democracy, science and occidental philosophy, and for a couple of years now once again has become a focal point – albeit for European crisis and criticism. As portrayed in the immaculate, often-times isolated frames, Athens appears as a city in decay in which concrete has grown uncontrollably, which now waits to slowly rot away. People play the supporting role in this theatre of concrete, as if Lehrner wants to say that those who once decided to form the face of this city, now a days don't differentiate between buildings and those living it it. Not more then playthings in the grande scheme of bigger political decisions, which therewith remarkably summarizes in what wicked narrative the people of Athens, those who walk the actual concrete streets to go to there work, home or elsewhere, find themselves in because of the policies made by others above them, right where Lehrner's camera is positioned. Looking down on the concrete and the people, showing a side of Athens which is both beautiful and sad, reminding of a classical Greek melodrama.
City is a concurrence of the other and the own, difference and sameness, unity and diversity. These components lay the foundations for thought, discussion and resistance. The city is a moving home, a safe haven in foreign parts. [ Continue reading ]

Oki Sato's Japanese studio Nendo is among those institutions that never cease to surprise and inspire us through their ever-evolving design vision and truly perfected holistic approach in their practice. The day before yesterday, to our great excitement, the studio succeeded to outstrip itself once again, presenting its biggest-ever project: the exterior and interior renovation of a department store in Bangkok that Sato believes represents a new way of shopping. Going by the name of Siam Discovery, the department store is operated by Thai retail and development company Siam Piwat, which invited Nendo to oversee the refurbishment of the interior and exterior of the 40.000 m² shopping mall on Bangkok's Rama 1 thoroughfare. The studio was tasked with implementing a radical vision for a new retail experience built around curated environments rather than the familiar branded concessions. Instead of categorizing products by brand, as is typical in traditional department stores, the different retail points present customers with a range of lifestyle experiences, including a digital lab, street lab, creative lab and play lab. The result is very likely the first real peek into the future of (department / multibrand) retail in which a physical location will need to have this level of experience to not totally loose its relevance as has become the trend in the last decade. We would literally fly to Bangkok just to see this with our own eyes. [ Continue reading ]

Two years ago we discovered the unique magazine named Collective Quarterly, with an inspirational focussed approach in creating stories on travel, design and everything that applies to the overhauling leitmotif being the concept of discovery and wonderment — which proves to one of our favorite new niches in independent printed matter. Each issue of CQ spotlights a single geographic location in the United States by focusing on the artisans, music, food, and natural wonders that make it special. It took them and therewith the readers to Marfa for the debut, followed by the Absaroka Mountains, the Mad River Valley and the triangle between Santa Barbara, Ojai and Ventura in California.

For their recently released fourth issue, named Pisgah, the team traveled to Asheville, North Carolina, an area where, "carefree vacationers exist alongside deeply philosophical counterculturalists, who in turn live next to artisans quietly practicing their craft as they have for generations." The issue's subjects include itinerant buskers passing through town via railroad, neo-primitive communities seeking to live outside of civilization, a French World War II survivor who has devoted her life to building an art cathedral, and much, much more. It has resulted in yet another rich perspective on a place on earth which we didn't know before laying eyes on the remarkably insightful new issue. Make sure to get your hands on it and travel to the wonderous town from wherever you are. [ Continue reading ]

In May of last year, Port Magazine founders Dan Crowe and Matt Willey along with explorer Ben Saunders presented an impeccable new title named Avaunt Magazine. It is among the independent magazines which don't just stand out because of its foundational do-it-yourself ethics and fresh creative vision, but als boasting a look and feel which aligns itself with some of the more glossier counterparts. Named Avaunt, a Middle English term based of the Old French word avant (‘to the front’), the magazine is dedicated to adventure in the broadest possible sense. A niche in printed matter on the rise with magazines like Sidetracked and Collective Quarterly being other inspirational names launched in the last few years. For its stories Avaunt will bring the reader endeavours and endurance from the wildest, highest, deepest, coldest and hottest corners of Earth, from respected writers and thinkers, concerning adventures in technology, music, science, style and culture, alongside insights from the pioneers and innovators who are shaping our new world. After two incredible issues having done just that in an utmost elegant manner, we are very happy to finally express our admiration here for the recently launched third issue. Also because the issue features a truly incredible new series by another favorite of ours, photographer Nick Ballon. In the series Ballon photographs Budapest’s Honved Fencing Club with his remarkable photographic eye, being our favorite out of the magazine with overal an inspirational high level of quality, both in its imagery and narrative. Make sure to pick it up somewhere near you. [ Continue reading ]

Released as a publication in 2014 by publisher Lecturis, Finnish photographer Heikki Kaski's incredible 'Tranquility' series continues to travel the world. Last week the series came from Brussels to London as part of the Foam Talent exhibition at Beaconsfield Gallery, and subsequently it will find its way to Riga. No suprise there by the way, as it is still some of our favorite photographic work which we've encountered recently, moving between the fields of documentary and landscape photography, full of mysticism and narrative, in line with names like Wim Wenders and Todd Hido. The story of the series revolves around its slightly captious moniker: the Californian town of Tranquility, which Kaski visited repeatedly over the course of one and half year. The town exists on a new kind of frontier, which is geographical, but also historical, marking the seeming obsolescence of established forms of production and social organization. Heikki Kaski’s pictures of the town and its inhabitants are a fractured series of reflections on a landscape that seems to have outlived its own history. He does not offer a factual narrative about the specifics of this place, which is treated instead as the archetype of a particular situation, joining subjective experience to economic realities. This is an acknowledgement of the fundamental link that exists between the social order and the lives of those who exist within it. Kaski creates a distinct, palpably uneasy atmosphere, marked by the use of several, and often clashing, visual strategies to demonstrate the unresolved tensions that have come to define not only the place itself, but also evoke the inner lives of those people who call it home. [ Continue reading ]

The MoMu Fashion Museum Antwerp is among our favorite museums period  (for more than one reason) yet their latest extraordinary exhibition named ‘Game Changers – Reinventing the 20th century silhouette’ might very well be their greatest creation until date. The exhibition looks at the groundbreaking work of fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga and forms a special passion project of the museum's curator Karen van Godtsenhoven, in a collaboration with Balenciaga expert Miren Arzalluz. The innovations of the Spanish designer in the middle of the 20th century created a radically new silhouette, in which the body got freedom of movement and architectural volumes created a space around the body. Along with the pioneers of haute couture in the 1920s and 1930s and later on also the (Japanese) designers of the 1980s and 1990s, Balenciaga provided an alternative for the prevailing constrictive hourglass silhouette, being an elementary frontrunner in pushing the aesthetic enveloppe and inspiring the world to rethink certain prevailing paradigms. Balenciaga and those who stepped into his footsteps, all Game Changers within their personal context looked at fashion of the 20th century from a new perspective shaking up the status quo. Very different than for instance the way more eclectic 'Dries van Noten Inspirations' exhibition, the scenography created for the new remarkable curation of fashion history is minimal, letting the different themes speak for itself — making the exhibition an extraordinary captivating overview of some of the most iconic avant-garde moments in modern female fashion. When in Antwerp before the 18th of August this exhibition is a must visit! [ Continue reading ]

At the beginning of this year, a new specialty coffee bar named Voyager Espresso opened in a subway concourse in Manhattan’s Financial District, which we discovered last month through our friends of Superfuture. Architecture firm Only If was commissioned to develop an innovative architectural and interior design for its initial retail location in this unusual underground site. In contrast to the oh so familiar and saturated artisanal aesthetic of contemporary coffee culture, the shop’s design and material palette refers to the namesake spacecraft and scientific approach behind the Voyager. This resulted in walls which are clad in oriented strand board, transformed through the application of aluminum enamel paint. Work surfaces consist of black marble countertop, which refers to the texture of the walls. Elsewhere, perforated aluminum, copper, and black rubber are used. Without a doubt this forms one of the most interesting, perfectly executed industrial futuristic interior designs we have seen in a while, not to mention it being done for a coffee bar which is super refreshing to say the least. [ Continue reading ]

As much as we love elegant well-balanced design, it are those makers who create with a similar precision, but always inhabiting a certain element of friction, who continue to stand out rather than loose real relevance over time. Among the artist who have proven to be just that; exquisitely precise but always finding ways to be represent friction into in their case timeless sculptural creations based on animals and nature - full of humor - are the French artist duo Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, who have inspired us with their timeless work since we discovered it through the Yves Saint Laurent art sale in 2009. Following a retrospective exhibition in 2009, inspired by the death of François-Xavier, last month on the 12th of December, the Paris-based Galerie Mitterrand opened another grande exhibition devoted to extraordinary work of Les Lalanne, celebrating 40 years of collaboration between the artists and Jean-Gabriel Mitterrand, and 25 years with the gallery. This exhibition is the opportunity to discover (or rediscover­) the art works of this internationally renowned, extremely talented couple of sculptors. [ Continue reading ]

During the last couple of years - all the way back to the very beginning of Another Something in 2009 - we have mentioned our good friend, photographer Yamandú Roos and his remarkable photographic journey which took him all over the European continent. After having made a name for himself photographing the (international) hiphop scene in Amsterdam from the end of the last century, the photographer decided to start his artistic quest at the age of 27, trying to capture Europe in all its rich- and ugliness. Always as honest as possible. Ten years later, 15 separate trips under his belt, over 65.000 kilometers driven in his notorious ride 'The Eagle', having crossed through 40 different European countries; in October of this year Yamandú finally presented the essence of his extraordinary project to the world when the elegant 'Europeans' was published by Red Lebanese. A tremendous conclusion of a tremendous project.   [ Continue reading ]

Through the insightful feature by our friends over at yatzer, we couldn't but notice the incredible retrospective on one of the most important contemporary multidisciplinary artists from Belgium; Jan Fabre. Thirty years ago him and gallery holder Mark Deweer started an impressive collaboration, which is translated into the exhibition '30 Years / 7 Rooms', celebrating these thirty years of collaboration for another two weeks at Deweer Gallery in Otegem, Belgium. It extends over all the exhibition spaces of the gallery and is divided into seven themed rooms, built especially for the occasion. '30 Years / 7 Rooms', in this way, presents a broad overview of the first historic objects, drawings, sculptures and installations, up to the latest works. The exhibition offers an exceptional opportunity to become acquainted with the most important groups of works in the oeuvre of Jan Fabre in a unique dramaturgy, created especially by the artist. A must visit! [ Continue reading ]

Next Friday, one of Belgium's most exciting contemporary designers, part of this year's Wallpaper* Magazine Power List, Michaël Verheyden, will find his way from Genk to Antwerpen, where he will open a temporary store in the beautiful concept boutique Graanmarkt 13. One of our favorite stores in Antwerp also houses an excellent restaurant, an apartment for rent and a gallery which for the occasion will also become part of Verheyden's presence. After Ferry Voorneveld had the honor as a representative of Another Something during the Limblogdesigntour, a month ago, visiting the visionary designer's studio (soon more on that visit), the temporary Antwerp-based store will underline Verheyden's unique vision on design once more, perfectly framed within the excellent environment of Graanmarkt 13. The store will house a beautiful selection of interior objects and design furniture, next to newer work of Verheyden - never shown in Belgium before - which will be for sale in the gallery on the first floor. [ Continue reading ]

On the 31st of October the Paris-based gallery Air de Paris opened 'Love is Never Enough' by the exciting art collective Claire Fontaine, presenting a new selection of works revolving around the emotional bankruptcy of our times. The title of the exhibition suggests that our need for love is almost unlimited and it cannot be satisfied by the current configuration of society but also that in our world, more than ever before, good intentions cannot be carried out without material means. The exhibition tackles the issues of exclusion and inclusion, security and fear, through the conceptual use of diverse medias. When in Paris make sure to catch the exhibition by one of the more exciting contemporary collectives active, before it closes at the end of December. [ Continue reading ]

The Amsterdam-based creative mind Ruben Pater, working under the moniker Untold Stories, first caught our attention in 2013 with his 'Drone Survival Guide'. Two years earlier, Pater presented another remarkable project named the 'Borders of the World' notebooks in which he just as masterfully implements a visual narrative on a geopolitical issue - in this particular case having not lost any of its relevance in the years that have passed since (or maybe even becoming more urgent..). Central inspiration for the project are the numerous fortified borders one finds throughout the world. Many of them being heavily guarded -even dividing nations at war like in North and South Korea- or just dividing the fortunate and the less fortunate, like the enclave in Melilla and the Evros fence between Turkey and Greece. Studying these 'walls of the world', Pater observed distinctive patterns in the different fences guarding its nations, which he translated directly onto the pages of the notebooks representing six different borders. The results form a project which still impresses us greatly.  [ Continue reading ]

We discovered Offenbach am Main-based TSATSAS when they collaborated with our friend Ramon Haindl for Aesthetic Habitat in 2014. This month, the label for fine leather bags and accessories which was founded in 2012 will be opening its very first own store in Frankfurt. Boasting 100 m² of floor space the German brand will bring together its sales area, showroom, model workshop and office facilities in a single location, which was concepted and designed by TSATSAS founders and owners Esther Schulze-Tsatsas and Dimitrios Tsatsas. For their new outlet they completely gutted the building’s ground floor (the frontage is on Frankenallee) and designed interventions that carefully visually structure the space in different functional zones. When in Frankfurt make sure to visit this gem. [ Continue reading ]

In September of 2013 we wrote about the fascinating story of Rob Lutter, who in 2011 had left England by bike and had travelled all the way to Hong Kong for charity. At that moment he sought new funds via Kickstarter to continue being on the road, which he eventually did. A staggering 4,5 years after Rob has left England he covered 40.000 kilometer by bike, completing a tremendous quest all around the world. With the journey officially having reached its final destination a last Kickstarter project has gone live now to create the best possible presentation of the endeavor in an elegant printed form. Rob's goal is to publish two books: 'A Thousand Dawns'; describing the story of the ride and 'Lifecycle'; presenting a collection of selected photos and tales. Make sure to support this remarkable project and man, to let him reach one last final destination. [ Continue reading ]

After last year's impressive debut of the New York-based inspirational boutique of limited edition design, objects and art named Chamber, this month the second annual collection, given the moniker 'Human | Nature', opened its doors. Curated by celebrated photographer and filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman who, just as his predecessors Studio Job, has worked closely with Chamber’s founder, Juan Garcia Mosqueda, in shaping the year-long project. With his curation for Chamber Collection #2, Andrew Zuckerman explores the theme of how the natural world interacts with man’s living environment as expressed through objects of design, art, and various types of ephemera. Zuckerman’s collaboration with Chamber draws on a broad array of sources, including Japanese aesthetics, ethnographic art, and biomimetics, in the service of creating a collection of objects that reintroduce organic forms or concepts into designed spaces. When in New York city this is a must see! [ Continue reading ]

On the 26th of September the inspirational  'The Bauhaus #itsalldesign' exhibition opened at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein. The exhibition encompasses a multiplicity of rare, in some cases never-before-seen exhibits from the fields of design, architecture, art, film and photography at the Bauhaus. At the same time, it confronts the design of the legendary German school with current debates and tendencies in design and with the works of contemporary designers, artists and architects. In this way, the exhibition reveals the surprising present-day relevance of a legendary cultural institution. Bauhaus artists and designers featured in the exhibition include Marianne Brandt, Marcel Breuer, Lyonel Feininger, Walter Gropius, Wassily Kandinsky and many more. Contemporary participants include the works of Olaf Nicolai, Adrian Sauer, Enzo Mari, Lord Norman Foster, Opendesk, Konstantin Grcic, Hella Jongerius, Alberto Meda and Jerszy Seymour. We can't wait to visit this extraordinary overview. [ Continue reading ]

On the 25th of September the inspirational 'Van Gogh+Munch' exhibition opened at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, after it had been on display at the Munch Museum in Oslo. The exhibition - for the first time - explores the similarities and connections between the two influential artists; starting with alignment in aesthetics and stylized kinship to their connections which exist on a deeper level. Rather than uncritically accepting established perceptions, the exhibition takes a closer look at their artistic point of departure, the influences they were exposed to, the development in style and technique and what artistic goals they set for themselves, and in this way create a deeper understanding of why these artists are so often compared to each other. When in Amsterdam make sure to visit. [ Continue reading ]

Last week the oldest Parisian department store; Le Bon Marché, inaugurated an inspirational reflective room, created by New York designer Thom Browne whose Autumn/Winter 2015-2016 installation ‘Office Man 2′ dominates the complete second floor of the retail institution. Formulated as a conceptual variation on the designer’s  presentation at New York Men’s Fashion Week last July, the dedicated floating space replicates a kaleidoscopic infinity effect of wall-to-wall mirrors illuminated by fluorescent tubes. The main twist of the Paris edition is not it’s lack of suited male models, but rather the surreal, still life install of more than fifty pairs of Browne’s iconic black leather wingtip shoes – each produced in genuine silver – which seem to reference the designer’s Spring 2013 men’s show. [ Continue reading ]

On the 17th of September the Blain|Southern Berlin gallery will present a curation of new and recent photographs by the German master Wim Wenders, which will be the artist’s first exhibition in his hometown in over half a decade. The exhibition brings together images from Germany and America – the two countries that have most influenced the artist throughout his career. The title: 'Time Capsules. By the side of the road', alludes to the relationship between memory and photography, highlighting the ability of photographs to act as a medium that captures an essence of the past and preserves it for the future. Several of the works in the exhibition feature places that have long-since changed, the images themselves therefore becoming portals into lost moments or spaces, impeccably captured by the photographer. After the re-release of Wenders' incredible 'Written in the West', the exhibition forms the second important marker for the artist's diverse legacy, which stretches beyond just his work in cinema, with his still photographic work being just as inspirational (in our eyes). [ Continue reading ]

Two years ago an interesting ambitious new hotel/temporary housing project was presented to the world in Rotterdam and the West of Amsterdam. Given the moniker The Student Hotel, the concept bridges the gap between the ideal accommodation and a home, welcoming all types of guests: from travellers, (exchange) students, aspiring young professionals, or simply people who are young at heart. Given a bold colorful modern aesthetic with clear hints to the iconic American college campus, the first Student Hotel turned out to be a great success, with several new location in and outside of the Netherlands opening its doors. The latest Student Hotel opened its door this month in the city where it all started; Amsterdam, located right in the city centre, with basically everything worth a visit within walking distance. On top of all the leisure facilities available on-site, an iconic nightclub will be ready to host you at The Student Hotel in 2016. We feel this is the most iconic and beautiful Student Hotel till date, with a lot more in store for the concept in the future. [ Continue reading ]